“When ramming people at the sample tables at Costco, do you prefer to tiptoe up for a sneak attack, or do you prefer to get a running start from across the store?”

~Corin

For those of you who do not know about me and the sample people at CostCo, let me give you a brief run down on my feelings about them.

I LOATHE them!

Okay, so I don’t loathe the actual people, more of the job they do and where they are located.

CostCo has them place their sample tables at the ends of the side aisles facing the big main aisles.  This causes huge traffic jams as people try to maneuver their carts around the sample tables without hitting them or the dozen or so people eating around them.  You also have to get around all of the abandoned shopping carts that people have left behind when they catch sight of one of these sample tables.

There is something about free samples that makes everyone within a ten foot radius leave their carts and head towards the table with the mini toaster oven and miniature white cups sitting on a red tray.  I haven’t found the draw, thankfully.

Instead I am left to navigate the sea of abandoned carts, wandering children and adults standing in odd locations eating out of little white cups.

How hard is it to move your cart to one side and retrieve a sample not only for yourself, but for whoever else is in your party as well?  If you have questions stand in front of the table, not to the side where you will narrow the aisles so much that only one cart will be able to squeeze by at a time.  If you abandon your cart in the middle of the aisle do not become offended when someone comes to move it to one side so they can get by.  When someone says “Excuse me!” they’re trying to kindly ask you to move your cart or person (or child) not excusing themselves from a belch after consuming their own micro-portion of fiber filled quiche.

For years this has all been part of the CostCo shopping experience, recently though the people running the sample tables have started to use State Fair techniques when hawking their goods.  “ALL NATURAL, LOW CARB., SUGAR FREE, ORGANIC, LOW CALORIE, HOT PINK SUGAR CRYSTAL WATER WITH NO FLAVOR!!!!!”  They scream it out to the crowd of shoppers meandering aimlessly through the store.  What joy to find not one, but two of these people screaming out their current products side by side, you get lost as to who has what.  Did they just say they’re serving meatless beef steaks?  Or was that protein enriched cookies?

My preferred method of breaking through the wall of people blocking the end of the aisle is the running techinque.  Starting at the end of the aisle you work up to a good run, at the last minute you step up on to the cart and ride your cart through the sea of people.  If you’re feeling especially compassionate you can give a warning cry of “INCOMING!!!!”.  The further along the store you get the better your cart will be at breaking through the sea of people since you will be adding weight to your cart.

If you live near me and are one of these inconsiderate people who hovers round the table, consider yourself forewarned   Watch out for the cart filled with 100lbs. of dog and cat food, meat to feed the masses and assorted canned food to help keep the cart balanced.  You may also want to avoid the girl laughing maniacally running behind it

Word to the wise, they fold up their sample tables at 7:00 pm.

]]> http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/costco/feed/ 3 exgoatmilker http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/end-times/ http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/end-times/#comments Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:00:01 +0000 exgoatmilker http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/?p=876 ]]>

#2 Give us an overview of your take on whether or not you think we are in the end times….how close to the end, etc.

~ Bren

This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  I bet you didn’t know that, Bren

It seems like so many Christians are obsessed with the end times.  “Are we living in the end times?”, “Are we about to enter the end times?”.

Here are my thoughts.  IF we are living in the end times what would you do differently?  Generally people want to get their lives all squared up if they are in fact living in the end times.  They want to be prepared for when Jesus returns.

Question: Shouldn’t you already be striving to live a life that is pleasing to God?

What if you should die tomorrow?  That, for you, would be the end times.

Are you living in such a way that God will say, well done, good and faithful servant?

In Matthew 25:13 it says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Do I think we are living in the end times?  I don’t know!  Maybe.  How many times though over the course of history have people thought “THESE are the end times”?  I don’t think we should be running around trying to guess when it is and wondering if we’re living in the end times.

Do not live in fear, but seek to live boldly for God.

“Why do you always look cute in funky shoes, when they look awful on me?”

~ Corin (my beeeeyoootiful seeeeeester)

Confession time, I love shoes.  I REALLY love shoes!  I enjoy clothes shopping a lot, but shoes, well, they’re my weakness.

I have a friend who wore running shoes under her wedding dress.  Why?  First of all, they are comfortable, she was able to be on her feet all day with no pain.  Second, they were something she knew she could wear again and again.

If I was to choose what shoes I would wear under my wedding dress, it would be a pair of Dr. Marten’s 1460 boots.  I seriously love their shoes, they have some great Mary Jane styles as well.  Keen has some great tennis shoes.  The only reason I don’t own a pair of these shoes yet, is because I have not been able to talk myself in to spending that much money on my feet

Corin, you should know my philosophy about shoes by now.  If you like them, wear them!  I’m sure they would look great if you would just put them on.

What are funky shoes?

They usually have something a bit different from the norm.  These always remind me of what you see maids wearing in movies set in the 1920’s.  The detailing is similar to a man’s dress shoe, but with a 3-inch heel they’re definitely a woman’s shoe.

Funky shoes often have a chunky heel like the ones above and below.

Sorry, the heel is lost in the grass, these are only about 2-inch heels.  I like the lace-up sides on these.

I always like to have a pair of chunky oxfords to wear with my jeans when the weather gets wet.

Funky shoes do not have to be expensive.  So far I have paid no more than $25 a pair for the above three pairs of shoes.  They are all made by MUDD (one of my favorite shoe companies).  Their shoes usually retail for $40-70, so far I have been able to swing in to local stores when they have them on sale and pay no more than half price for them.

For even cheaper funky shoes, there is always Payless.

Okay, so these really aren’t funky.  These I picked up for a friend’s wedding last Fall.  I needed them to go with the lavender dress pictured a couple posts ago. For $16 they got me through the day and have sat in my closet ever since

The most expensive shoes I own are these.

I LOVE my black Converse Chuck Taylors .  They are some seriously comfortable tennies!  I had some store dollars from a recent purchase from Kohl’s which made them less than $40.  I would love to own these in gray, brown, red… pretty much every color

So, Corin, wear the shoes!!!  If you ever need/want company for shoe shopping, you know where to find me

Special thanks to my photographer, Will.

As you can see, he was a great sport, even willing to wear my “Congress” shoes.

Thanks also to my mom for the final two pictures.

If any of these posts bring up more questions feel free to leave them in the comments or in the original blog post.

“#1 What are you looking for in a husband and what are your dating/courtship beliefs? Throw in any tips for a mom of a 12 year old daughter….hint hint.”

~ Bren

What I am looking for in a husband, the short list.  I want a God fearing, Bible reading, family leading man

First, I do not date.  I do believe courtship is a great way to go for finding a future spouse.  There is less likelihood of romantic emotions being awakened before their time.  It’s also wonderful if you have parents to oversee the courtship process.

For those of you who are not familiar with my sister’s courtship story let me give you a quick rundown on the beginning of it.

My sisters eighteenth birthday landed on a Sunday, and at the church we were part of at the time it was common to announce birthdays.  When my dad announced my sisters birthday she stood up, embarrassed, but beautiful as always.  My now brother-in-law saw her and knew he wanted to marry her (swoon).

Fast forward a year and a half.  Rob’s parents have been noticing friendly Corin, they like her and by this time our families are seeing a lot of each other on Sunday afternoons.  We meet together in the park with several other families from church every Sunday afternoon to have a picnic lunch and fellowship.

Mid-October rolls around and our parents go to dinner with Rob’s.

Sweet, beautiful Corin and I head out to milk goats that evening (this is before I was the ex-goatmilker ).  Corin says “I think the dinner tonight is about a possible courtship”.

Me:  <grunt> Why thinka you that?

Corin:  I don’t know, I just think so, don’t you think it is weird that they went out to dinner with only them and Mr. and Mrs. _____?

Me:  Ugh, me guess so.

Fast forward just a tich.  Rob didn’t know who his parents were going out with for dinner.  He did know why though, and he was footing the bill.  His parents returned home to tell him that my dad had given him the okay to ask him (my dad) to court adorable Corin.  Rob’s parents wanted to run the idea by my parents so that if it was an obvious no he could be spared any hurt feelings.  They didn’t know that Rob had already been interested in and praying about sweet, beautiful Corin.  He was then given the opportunity to pursue a courtship with gorgeous Corin, or say, gorgeous, thoughtful Corin’s not the one for me.

The following weekend he asked my dad and my dad put together a nice long list of questions for him.  Kind Corin still did not know anything about it.  After getting Rob’s answers and reviewing them to make sure there were no obvious clashes between he and sweet Corin, and that they thought Rob was pretty darn okay , they approached perfect Corin .  Here was where her opportunity was to say no, he’s not the guy, or yes I would like to pursue this courtship.

Obviously the rest is history, they have been happily married for nine years and have five adorable kids.

Here is one of the things I love about courtships where parents are involved.  Remember this is from a girls perspective.

It protects me from engaging in a relationship that my parents might see as bad from the start.  I don’t even have to know if someone asked and was turned down.  Who else knows me better than my dad and mom?

My dad put together a list of “deal breakers” a while ago.  It’s a list covering a large scope of views, politics, religion, family and even looks and food allergies that a guy might hold.   They want me to fill this out and write down which if any of their questions are deal breakers for me.  Some I may not have a problem with, others may be more “preferably not”’s.  I’ve slowly been answering these and just found out today the file saved none of my changes <sigh>.

Here is one thing about courtship.  There is not one way to do it.  Everyone is different, every one has their own personality and so on.  Every courtship will look different, even between Corin’s and (I pray) mine someday.    Here is the one thing that I think is the same with them all.  The individuals are trying to pursue a pure and godly relationship with one another with the goal of the relationship being marriage.

As far as hints for you and C.   If you are planning on her courting or even dating for that matter,  encourage her to keep her heart pure, share with her why you are wanting to help her follow this way.  Read encouraging books to her  and have her read books (and blogs) meant for older girls as she gets older.  Obviously as she becomes an adult she will have had to have made this choice for herself , you can not force it upon her.  I think explaining why is SO important.  If she does not know why you wish this for her than there will be no reason for her to follow your teaching.  Pray for her future husband now and encourage her to do the same as she gets older.

Teach her how to keep a home, teach by example how to honor and obey a husband.  Encourage her to give honor and obedience to her dad, and to treat her brothers with kindness.  It’s all part of the training of one day becoming a home maker!  Proverbs 31 is always a great verse to memorize as a standard.  Unattainable, yes, but still a good one to strive for!  Have her read books about homemaking, just because she does not have a home of her own, does not mean she doesn’t need to learn how to keep one.  After all, she is studying for her life’s career!

Supervise her interaction with boys.  No, this does not mean you will have to follow her every step until the day she marries. While she is young be careful to encourage her in healthy relationships with boys.  You may need to pull her back if she is spending too much time with them and not other girls or behaving inappropriately.  Even if you plan on letting her date as she gets older, it is really important to teach her how to behave when around young men.

Here are some books to look in to:

Stepping Heavenward.

Aunt Jane’s Hero

So Much More

Beautiful Girlhood

In My Father’s House

Raising Maidens of Virtue is written by Stacey McDonald.  Neither my mom or I have personally read it, but I have heard a lot of great things about it.

There are even a couple of picture books out!

Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity for girls.

The Squire and the Scroll for boys.

A couple of blogs I enjoy:

Empowered Traditionalist by Christa- Taylor.  She also is a great clothing designer

Joyfully Home is written by Jasmine Baucham, Voddie Baucham’s daughter.

Visionary Daughters is written by Anna and Sofia Botkin.  I have clicked over here once or twice.  So far it hasn’t been a blog that I have added to my blog roll, but you may enjoy it.

If you would like to read a much better written story of my sister and brother-in-law’s courtship, click here to read it in her own words.

If any of these posts bring up more questions feel free to leave them in the comments or in the original blog post.

Ok, so I got one more…..#4 What is your most embarrassing moment ever???

Ok….share Corin’s most embarrassing moment too…I know she HAS to have a good one!!!!!

~Bren

Bren, Bren, Bren,  my life is almost one constant embarrassing moment.  In between tripping over my feet, falling down our back stairs, saying something completely wrong or dropping things I find new and unique ways to embarrass myself daily.  It’s gotten to the point where I even wonder what new and unusual scrapes I can get myself in to.

Sometimes I receive help from others.  Like the night I was sitting across from Aaron and in the midst of telling a rather animated story he knocked a large, freshly filled Dr.Pepper with LOTS of ice right in to my lap at Carl’s Jr.   I let out a scream at the shock which drew lots of attention.  Aaron then proceeded to guffaw (he’s the king of guffawing) at me as I tried, unsuccessfully, to discreetly exit the building.  This required me to walk from the back of the restaurant to the front out in to the parking lot.  Drat the dinner time rush!

There’s the time when I was about five and was swinging on our backyard swing set.  My mom was watching me from the kitchen  window and tells me the following was going through her mind, “Oh, she’s not, she’s not going to jump off the swing.  Surely she wouldn’t do…Ooooooh!!!”  Why the concern?  I was not swinging towards the open yard, oh no!  I was swinging towards the wooden fence that was only four feet from our swing set.  My mom says I smacked in to the fence and slid down.  I thankfully have no recollection of this occurrence, the impact seems to have driven it from my memory.  Either that or Corin’s broom handle knocked it out a few years later.  Hmmm… I’ve had a lot of head injuries, maybe that’s why…

There was the time a few years ago that my parents were on the board for a local home school convention.  One day I ran to a nearby grocery store for my mom, while standing in line a woman passed by the gal behind me.  They had a brief chat and the woman then left to do her shopping.  The woman behind me in line then proceeded to tell any of us who cared to know that the woman who she was just talking to home schooled her children.  She then proceeded to tell us all how she could NEVER home school her children.  She just did NOT have the patience to be with her children all day.  I found this a bit irritating, but found it even more so when I turned around and saw she was saying this in front of her two children (8-ish and 10-ish).  Listening to her go on and on about homeschooling and how she never could in front of the long line of people behind her continued to irritate me and made me wish someone would tell her how great it can be.  I decided that I guessed I was the person to do it.

A little info about me, when I am irritated I usually can either get weepy or shaky.  Moving on!

I turned around, smiled and said.  “M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-myyyyyyy m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-oooooom.  H-h-h-h-h-h-hoooooomeschooled m-m-m-m-m-m-y s-s-s-s-sister and I th-th-th-th-th-through h-h-h-h-h-h-highsch-sch-sch-ooooool! “  Here I paused briefly to step up to the register, thought about how idiotic I sounded, wondered how long it would take the checker to scan my groceries and scoped out the nearest exit.  I turned back around and shared  “M-m-m-m-m-yyyyy p-p-p-p-parents are-are-are p-p-p-part of a local h-h-h-h-oooomesch-sch-sch-ool c-c-c-c-c-conference.  Y-y-y-y-you sh-sh-sh-should t-t-t-try g-going t-t-t-o o-o-o-one s-s-s-s-somtime!”.  Having paid for my groceries I said goodbye and quickly exited the grocery store at almost a run.  I jumped in to the van and immediately called my mom, “MOM, I just found out something!!!”  Mom:  What’s that?

Me:  I STUTTER!!!!

Mom:  What ARE you talking about!

After briefly catching her up and laughing about it she asks “Did you tell her the name of the home school conference?”

Me:  Thankfully, no!

One of my favorites:

There was the other time one of my, at the time, very young brothers threw an enormous temper tantrum (something he had never done before or since!) inside a Target after I had taken him back for a drink of water.  I still have no idea what possessed him to do this.  He was on the floor yelling (I think it was the flouride in the water).  I had to pick him up and carry him out while he yelled “MOM!!!  I WANT MOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!”  Over and over, people began to stop and look, security started following me, obviously there was a kidnapping in progress.  Thankfully my mom was not in the van yet and saw me coming with security hot on my heels.  She quickly said “____  stop it, right this minute!”.  He instantly stopped, I set him down where he ran to my mom.  Security immediately left and I slumped down in the front seat of our van to die a thousand deaths.

For a finale:
My dad took me out one afternoon to run errands with him.  These are commonly called “Daddy Adventures” around here.  One stop turns in to ten and you end up being out all day.  Anyway, my dad stopped at Mickey D’s to grab a quick bite to eat.  While ordering he said that he didn’t want any fries, (it’s rare that he doesn’t want fries).  I took the cups and went to the soda fountain to fill them.  I finished putting the lids on and I spotted my dad sitting at a nearby table with our food.  As I walked up I could see that he was scarfing down my fries!   I came around the side of the table and yell “Hey!  Why are you eating all of my fries!!!”.  My dad turned around and looked at me with the strangest expression on his face.  It wasn’t my dad!!!  He was wearing a ball cap and jacket VERY similar to my dad’s and from the back it looked like him, but it. Was. Not. My. Dad.!  I quickly apologized explaining how I thought he was my dad and quickly went to the other side of the dining area where my dad was!

I could go on and on, stories of flirting with men outside the window of fast food establishments, of trying to hold hands with strange men or wardrobe malfunctions with bridesmaid dresses.  Get the picture?  THIS. IS. MY. LIFE!!!!!

Ask me tomorrow for an embarrassing story and I will probably have three more for you just from that day.   Someone has to provide the humor for the rest of the world!

One of my favorite quotes is from the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice.

Mr. Bennet – What are we here for, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn.

I just make more sport than others!

As to Corin’s most embarrassing moment… I actually can’t think of a one.  She’s like Mary Poppins “Practically perfect in every way.”  You’d have to question her to find out some.  I just take delight in capturing awkward moments of hers on film.  Like why you should never invite your parents 75lb. Lab in to your lap.

She ain’t no fluffy lap puppy, that’s for sure!

I wanted to take a quick break from answering questions to show you a project I just finished for my parents and maybe give you some ideas for Christmas cards.

My mom asked me a couple weeks ago to come up with some invitations for our family’s annual Christmas Eve gathering.  After thumbing through my card-stock and paper stash I started playing around with a sheet of plain red paper with a slight sparkle to it.

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After playing around with it for awhile and having some not so great ideas I settled on what I wanted to do and made a quick example to show my mom and dad.

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They liked it, so it was then time to start cutting and cutting and cutting and…

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I cut out four rings for the base and after much cutting of little paper leaves I could start layering them on to each ring.  I used my two way glue pen (I love this thing)  to wet the ring with glue and add about three layers of leaves at a time.  I would then add glue to a new section of the ring and the bottom half of the leaves from the previous layer and start again.

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Here you can see a ring that is over half way done, the glue I use is blue when wet, but it dries clear.  It’s a pretty neat product because it works like glue, but if you only want a temporary bond you can apply it to one piece of paper and let it dry.  Once it is dry it then just has a slight tackiness to it so you can stick and re-stick the paper.

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I would never have made these if it wasn’t for the fact that we only needed four doors total.  The wreaths were just a bit time consuming.

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I made a few changes to the final card.  I wanted to put the door on a dark green background so it would stand out a little more.  After a quick trip to Jo-Ann’s I found the card-stock I was looking for and cut it to the right dimensions.  My dad also found the neat-o little silver, 3-D  dots that made better door handles than just a gold hole punch.  The doors were made out of regular white card-stock and the gold poinsettias were made from a sheet of gold paper I hand on hand.  I affixed the petals on to a small square of white card stock and then glued the finished flower on to the wreath.

]]> http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/we-interrupt-your-previously-scheduled-programming/feed/ 5 exgoatmilker Invitations2 Invitations Invitations3 Invitations4 Invitations5 Invitations6 http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/just-your-average-week/ http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/just-your-average-week/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:05:15 +0000 exgoatmilker http://exgoatmilker.wordpress.com/?p=843 ]]>

“  O.K. Miss D, I’ll begin with, what keeps you busy during your days…. I do know that each day is different for you. I await your answer… = )”

Nana

“Do you try to follow a schedule for each day? If so what is a “normal” day like for you?”

Julie

As my mom says “You don’t have a schedule, more of a flow chart.”  I don’t do well on schedules, I just don’t.  They end up running my life instead of assisting me in my daily tasks.  I do best just knowing what needs to be done in a day and about what time of the day it needs to be done.

Currently my days look something like this,

Mornings: Get my daily caffeine fix, breakfast (sometimes I make it), catching up on news and blogs,  kitchen clean up, running three days a week, starting daily chores.

My daily chores consist of wiping up the bathroom I share with Will daily and giving it a deep cleaning once a week.  Vacuuming the house three times a week, mopping all hard floor surfaces once or twice a week, and of course keeping my own room clean and neat, plus additional chores that change daily and monthly.

Afternoon: Make lunch, finish any chores that weren’t done in the morning, work on extra projects my mom has for me or running to the store,  taking photos, making invitations (post coming up), etc.  Maybe do some baking for that evening or to stock up the freezer.  I also am allowed plenty of time for reading, working on craft projects or running errands I have.  Sometimes I do some dinner prep. work.

Evening:  Kitchen clean up with my brothers.  I enjoy getting to do some more reading in the evening, knitting, watching a movie with my family, or even playing Wii games together.

Daily chores can include dusting, webstering, cleaning fingerprints off of walls, cleaning windows, screens and air vents around the house.

Weekly jobs can include cleaning the garage, defrosting a freezer, cleaning blinds, cleaning and organizing closets, basically more of the big seasonal jobs that need to be done around the home.

There are other things that get thrown in depending on what day it is.

Sunday – Is usually a full day for us.  We attend a church a little over an hour away and get there a bit early so we can help with the set up (my dad is a deacon).  We also are usually the last people to leave and often do not get home until four thirty or five in the evening.

Monday – I’m in charge of dinner on this night, it is also my dad’s Saturday, so sometimes he and my mom will go run errands in the afternoon.

Tuesday and Wednesdays some times have one thing or another thrown in.

Thursday – My sister and her kids come over in the afternoon for a long visit.  I try to make a treat for all of them.  It is also my personal laundry day when I wash all of my clothes and bedding that need it.

Friday – This is often the day I do errands.  Once every two weeks my mom and I will go do our big shop (groceries, clothing, home goods, etc.)  this is an all day affair.  On the weeks it is not our normal shopping day we often need things anyway, running low on milk, I need something from the store, something needs to be returned, whatever.

Saturdays – Usually this day is filled with preparing for Sunday: cooking lunch for the next day, baking a dessert, ironing clothes, getting everyone’s Bibles together by the back door and making breakfast for the next morning.  This is also my second dinner night of the week, but it is an easy one since nachos have become the traditional dinner.  I usually make up a baking sheet full of nachos (chips, refried beans, ground beef and a Mexican blend of cheese) with some guacamole and hot sauce on the side.

There is a lot that I do that I can not write out as a daily or weekly thing.  Sometimes I find close to an hour of my day is taken by a long a telephone conversation with a neighboring widow, or I am outside and see our flower beds need to be tamed (I love hacking at things with clippers, I find it therapeutic), or I am taking care of a neighbor’s yard and/or animals, or maybe assisting with a current home project we’re working on.

Anyway, Nana and Julie, I hope this gives you an idea of the things I do on a weekly basis.

If any of these posts bring up more questions feel free to leave them in the comments or in the original blog post.

Bren, who “wants to know it all” asked, “ #3 I don’t need to ask about Queen or Aerosmith, cause I already know that one….too easy, but give us your ALL TIME favorite book, movie, and song.”

I found it interesting that this question fell right after my views on popular culture… I’m kind of glad it did! Bren, you should know me well enough by now to know that I am indecisive when it comes to these things. I can’t pick just one! There are just too many to pick from so how about I pick my top (I think) five. Is that okay?

First a disclaimer. I (Danielle) enjoy these books, movies and songs, however I do not recommend them for your own personal use. Please use your own judgment and discretion when deciding whether this is something you will listen to, read or watch.

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Books:

The Bible of course tops the list.  What other book could I read multiple times and still think “Wow, was that here the last time I read it?”.    2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Les Miserables, I’m reading through this a second time and I love it even more than the first time. What an incredible story of redemption, love and vengeance.  The writing style of Victor Hugo amazes me.  He fits in bits of history throughout so you can get a feel for what time the people are living in and what is influencing them (popular culture of the time .  Who else could devote chapters of a book to telling you the history of the sewer system and still hold your interest?

Knowing God, I read this book about once every year or two.  It reground me, makes me think and encourages me.   I find that every time I read it something different gets impressed on my mind.

The Pickwick Papers, oh how I love this book!  Seriously funny stuff.  I seem to pull this one out around Christmas when I want to reread it, it makes for a fun read in front of the fire.

The Count of Monte Cristo, another good long read.  The first time I read it I liked it, but thought it was rather short.  It turns out there are multiple versions of The Count of Monte Cristo and the one I had read was heavily edited.  It’s hard to find unedited versions, but I did eventually find one.  I loved it!  My brother says it is wrong to like a book that condones a man taking vengeance on his enemies… I still like it

As a final note on books I also enjoy anything by P.G. Wodehouse for a good, quick, fun read.

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Movies:

Oscar, soooooo funny!   Sylvester Stalone plays an “ ex-gangster, or as I prefer to think of him, a robber baron”.  Keep your eye on the little black bag or else you’ll find yourself saying with Connie “Aww, can’t I stay? Every time I leave I fall behind!”.

Return to Me, this movie seems to have skimmed under the public eye.  It has Minnie Driver, David Duchovny and Carol O’Connor to name a few.  Bonnie Hunt directs as well as co-stars.  The movie is good, but without Carol O’Connor and his cronies I don’t think it would have been a favorite.  “I miss Elizabeth. I’ll always miss her. But I ache for Grace.”

The Usual Suspects (use extra caution), I love watching movies that catch me off guard, I also really like Kevin Spacey’s acting.  Who is Keyser Soze?

O Brother, Where Art Thou?, I love this movie and can watch it over and over.  The music is great as well.  The first time I watched it I knew I would hate it, yes I did, I KNEW it! My grandma had seen it with a friend and could not stop telling us how weird it was.  We rented it one night and I was laughing within minutes.  How could she not see the humor in it?!?!?!  I ended up buying it shortly after seeing it and had my grandma re-watch it with us.   Somehow she missed the humor in it the first time, she ended up enjoying it after that.

Secret Window, so bizarre, so creepy, so good. “Rubbernecker!”

As a final note, pretty much any movie put out by the BBC or A&E based on a classic novel is something I like.  As well as any movie with Johnny Depp.  I also enjoy almost all of the Alfred Hitchcock movies.

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Songs:

I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith.  I heard this for the first time during the credits of a movie and loved it.  It has stuck in my top ten songs for almost ten years.

It Is Well With My Soul, I LOVE singing this in church and at home.  I find the verses often running through my head and wish always to say that it is indeed well with my soul.

I have several from the Newsboys, I’ve even blogged about In Christ Alone.  Their latest album has so many new favorites on it.  The first song The Way We Roll is a favorite after being a fan for almost fifteen years I have seen a lot of the changes they have made.  Has anyone ever seen Newsboys: Down Under The Big Top ?  Funny stuff.  I also am loving their No Grave on the In The Hands Of God
CD. Beautiful Sound is also a favorite.  Okay, so I have listed way too many here, but I am classifying it as one favorite

Jars of Clay’s Love Song For A Savior,  Hymn and for the simple fact that is makes my sister laugh (when I play air banjo to it Darling style) Goodbye, Goodnight.  Again, this is a group I have enjoyed listening to since their Much Afraid album.  The Coffee Song could be my morning theme song.

Rhapsody In Blue by Gershwin, I LOVE this piece of music.

Final note: I have way too many to list and I am sorry Bren I did list an Aerosmith song, but I did refrain from putting down any Queen.   I know I gave you way more than you asked for, but I couldn’t help myself!

I want to briefly clarify how I am going about answering these questions as there has been some confusion.  I am answering them in the order I received them, but I am also alternating between some of the more thoughtful questions and some of the more fun, easy to answer ones.  Make sense?  If not I’ll try rewording it

Dr. Fletcher also asked, “Tricky one: What are your thoughts on popular music or a Christian’s involvement with pop-culture in general? Any current favorite musicians?”

Ay yai, yai, yai, yai, yai, YAI!!!  As my nephew likes to put it.  This is something that has been in and out of my mind lately.  Where are we as Christians supposed to fall when it comes to popular culture?

Hmmm, pop culture is such a huge field.  I’m going to focus on music, books and movies, but I think the same principles can be used to cover all areas.

My family is a bit more liberal in our involvement with popular music, books and movies than many Christians.

Some Christians believe we should avoid all secular media, some are okay with one form or another, and then others have no restrictions at all.  What one family may allow may be okay for their family, but it might be detrimental to another.  It can also go by an individual by individual basis within a family.

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In the past I can remember having different rights revoked.  When I was about eleven all of my country music tapes were confiscated due to a lack of maturity on my part.  Either that or my parents were tired of listening to me sing Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox.  I also was put on a restriction as to what I listened to on the radio.    Now that I am an adult they obviously do not put restrictions on what I watch, listen to or read, but I do still take advantage of their opinions and I also use them as my sounding board as I have come to respect their views and thoughts.

I was discussing with my mom recently the lack of good Christian fiction.  I love classic literature and could easily sit and read nothing but it all day long.  A good fictional story with a cup of coffee in front of the fire and I am one happy camper!  Anyways, I was talking with her about books like ones by Charles Dickens, George Eliot and Victor Hugo.  While they are not Christian novels they still espouse Christian values and morals throughout .  So, am I wrong to read these and other books?

I think it can be a good thing to keeps tabs on what is currently engaging the world ( Twilight,  skinny jeans,  iphones v. droids, Palin 2012).  It gives me an opportunity to see what is filling the hearts and heads of those around me, and may even open up opportunities of sharing opinions and even my faith with unbelievers.   We don’t have to go and see and do everything that is out there.  We can pick and choose how, when, where and why we are engaging the culture in this way.

These verses in Romans keep coming to my mind:

Romans 14:1-15
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.  One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.  The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.  Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?  To his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.  Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.  He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.  He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God.  For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.  If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.  So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For this very reason, Christ dies and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and living.  You, then, why do you judge your brother?  Or why do you look down on your brother?  For we all stand before God’s judgment seat.  It is written: “’ As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘ every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.  Instead,  make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.  As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself.  But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.  If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love.  Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

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So what is a person to do?  I come away still scratching my head and wondering.

At this point in time I listen to some of the popular tunes out there and often play a local radio station that plays some of the current hits as well as some moldy oldies.  Yes, I like Love Story by Taylor Swift.  I enjoy reading other people’s opinions about the current state of our government,  nation and world.  The latest movies can often be found playing on my family’s DVD player (Star Trek is on its way from Netflix as I type).  All of my family may not be included in the viewing of these movies and we do sometimes take advantage of having a ClearPlay.   I usually run any clothing purchases by my mom and/or dad to get their opinions before or just after buying them.  Basically I am trying to be in and not of the world, but at the same time not completely segregate myself.  The sweet, Russian Pentecostal women in Hallmark should not be the only ones comfortable with starting up a conversation with me.  I don’t know a lick of Russian!

As far as current favorite musicians,  Jars of Clay, Taylor Swift, Josh Groban, Fernando Ortega, Newsboys, Charlie Parker, The Fray, The Beatles, Aaron Shust,and Aerosmith, just to name a few.

If any of these posts bring up more questions feel free to leave them in the comments or in the original blog post.